Almost like from Lisboa to Helsinki : How Far did Frodo and Sam Travel from the Shire to Mordor?

How far can two hobbits go when the fate of the world is at stake? The journey of Frodo and Sam from the cozy Shire to the flaming slopes of Orodruin in The Lord of the Rings seems endless, but Professor Tolkien had a ruler and precise dates for everything.

How we can "measure myth"

In 1953, Christopher Tolkien drew a map of Middle-earth - with a neat scale in miles. To it he added dates: leaving Hobbiton, spending the night with the Agile Fox, the meeting in Rivendell and the death of the Ring. It is this scale that allows us not to guess, but to calculate the heroes' path almost to the yard.

Stages of the "impossible" walk

• Shire → Bree - 120 miles, 7 days. The first miles still smell of Aunt Lobelia's pies.

• Bree → Rivendell - 300 miles, 21 days through trolls, Nazgul and the pass of Caradhras.

• Rivendell → Lothlórien - 175 miles, 24 days. The snowstorm slows the pace, Mordor is close.

• Lórien → Parth Galena - 300 miles, 11 days along the river, where friendship begins to crack.

• The Breaking of the Fellowship → The Black Gate - 160 miles, 6 days through hostile Ithilien.

• From the gate → Minas Morgul - 110 miles, 5 days under the whisper of Gollum and the shadow of the Nazgul.

• Morgul → Orodruin Crater — 70 miles, 16 days, last steps — on knees.

Total — 1235 miles in 6 months and 18 days. Frodo left home on September 7, and the Ring was destroyed on March 25.

The pace logically changes: at the beginning, the heroes briskly walk along familiar paths, but after Rivendell, the nights become longer — they need to hide and look for food. The final march through Mordor turns into agony — they walk not on foot, but by will.

1235 miles look dry, but they are what make the journey real. We go through it together with the heroes, we feel the weight of the Ring and despair. And when it all finally ends, you just want to sit down. And silently exhale.